Hello and welcome back to Burning Questions, where we explore Marvel Snap's hottest topics. This week, the special run of Grand Arena wrapped up, Weapon H landed like an atom bomb, and a cool new album is dropping this weekend!
1) Did the Grand Arena balance changes improve the pre-con only experience?
The initial Grand Arena experience wasn't terrible, but it wasn't diverse. It quickly started to revolve around Black Panther at most matchmaking rating levels, with only the highest MMR levels having any real diversity, with Annihilus as a Black Panther counter and Weapon X having higher win rates in more skilled hands. Mid and low MMR bands devolved into Panther mirrors with a little Weapon X and some Iron Man, who fared better there than at high MMR. The Rocket and Thanos decks, in particular, felt really weak.
When the OTA dropped, I was skeptical that it would improve things much. Wouldn't Weapon X just rise to the top? That didn't come to pass, and all eight Champions felt playable. Not perfectly balanced, but you could win with all of them. In particular, I loved the Rocket deck with the inclusion of Beast and Prowler and rode it to a lot of wins. Given more time, that deck may have separated itself from the pack. Black Panther felt a lot weaker after its sizable nerfs, but that Champion had his time in the sun. Thanos still felt really weak, and he'll need improvements if this set of Champions returns.
The experiment with only pre-constructed decks was definitely worthwhile and well-intentioned, but I'll be happy to get back to custom decks next time Grand Arena comes around. I loved the visuals of this run, though, and ended up snagging all six of the available Pixel variants of the Champions.
2) What is the best way to use Weapon H?
Weapon H has already made a significant meta impact. Is he best with or without Apocalypse? Khonshu? Dracula? Is he best as the focal point of a deck or a backup plan? Here are the best Weapon H decks so far, statistically.
Power Zombie Discard
Power H Discard
The card that really makes Weapon H shine is Zombie Power Man. Play it early on an unoccupied lane, and these decks can go absolutely wild. Colonel America is a flex spot, but he's the perfect follow-up to protect a Power Man lane. I've been enjoying the builds without Dracula more, and I like Gambit for a little bit of interaction. He can occasionally lock out games early, in addition to stealing games late. I was optimistic about the possibility of Ebony Blade, Ghost Rider, Hela, or Agatha builds with Weapon H. Still, I haven't seen anyone come up with one that maintains as solid a win rate as more traditional builds, yet. Exploration with Weapon H has just begun, and I'm looking forward to trying him out as part of a small splash-able package as well.
3) What are the best Viktor Farro variants?
In February, we got our first Viktor Farro album (with the ridiculous name of 'Near, Farro, Wherever You Are-o'), but the second one coming this weekend has even better variants! Check it out!
The painted look works really well for this set of characters. I'm especially looking forward to Korg, Moonstone, and Titania. I also plan to get plenty of mileage out of that Titania emote!
Now let's hop over to the official Marvel Snap Discord and grab a few developer questions and answers!
4) Question:
What was your favorite season pass card of 2025?
Riffing off the current suggestions thread re yearly and seasonal recaps, I find myself wondering which of this year's season pass cards you've enjoyed the most and found the most success with. I'd also be interested to know which ones didn't quite land for you, for whatever reason — not necessarily because they don't play as strongly, for instance I think Galactus First Steps is a very playable card but I'm just not as fond of Big Dumb Powerhouses. Hope your year's been good to you.
Answer:
Sam Wilson for favorite, Zombie Scarlet Witch is close though. I just enjoy cards with good "stories" and he's fun in play a tactile way that few Snap cards are.
Least favorite, Esme Cuckoo. I never quite found a design I loved, and the one we shipped is fine but lacks that special "oomph" I like for Season Passes.
-Glenn
Merlin is my favorite. Love flavor and utility. I'm not a big Move player, so my least used/favorite is Spider-Punk.
-Griffin
Scosco's Note:
Ooh, fun! My favorite season pass card was probably Galactus First Steps! Like the OP, I am NOT a fan of "big dumb" cards, but Galactus First Steps shocked me with how dynamic and fun he felt. The card just makes games more interesting and provides added tension.
5) Question:
While I do enjoy the flavor for Jessica's effect (leave me alone, let me investigate), she doesn't really make a splash at all in anything beyond starter games. The fact that she soft-locks down a location leads to more telegraphed plays for minimal upside (no matter how hard I try to make Cerebro 10 happen). Has there been any discussion about either buffing her (such as making her ability an End of Turn to synergize with IWFS) or changing her effect to be similar to a recent detective-themed character in Spider-Man Noir? She's a cool character, it just sucks that she's a liability if you deckbuild with her.
Answer:
Given the current card's primary role is in the new user experience, we're more likely to make a new Jessica than rework this one.
-Glenn
Follow up to the question re: Jessica Jones
So, how about Rescue? She has a very similar ability to Jessica Jones, even more telegraphed, same cost, 1 less power. The difference is that JJ is a CL 14 card, while Rescue is a Series 3 card. Is she on the radar for some buffs or even a rework?
Given the current card's primary role is in the new user experience, we're more likely to make a new Jessica than rework this one.
-Glenn
Scosco's Note:
Ok, so it appears the team is all in on the idea of introducing new cards of favorite characters, rather than buffing the existing ones. It probably makes more sense as the game ages. These are both characters I really love, so I want more playable versions of them. Hopefully, we'll get a new Jessica Jones when the character appears in the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again season on Disney+. But can we please get a slight Rescue buff, please!
Giveaway!
Here’s a burning question from me to you.… Do you want a season pass? Well I’m giving one away to somebody in the comments below that comments with their discord name a character they’d like to see reworked and how they would rework that character. Good luck!
That's it for this week! Come find me on social media, where I'll be announcing a very special project next week!